GOLF: TV SPORTS

GOLF: TV SPORTS; Choking and Snooping to Increased Ratings

By Richard Sandomir

Published: September 24, 1993

During a weekend of forays to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., two years ago, my quality TV time spent with the Ryder Cup was more exciting than anything on Uncle Walt's premises. Watching Bernhard Langer choke and Mark Calcavecchia and Colin Montgomerie crumble was better than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

The 1991 Ryder Cup victory by the United States was a gift to NBC, the equivalent of giving Don Knotts a Big Bertha driver. It resuscitated the biennial event for network TV after a hiatus in 1989 when it was shown only on the USA Network.

The tournament between American and European players meant plenty in pride to the golfers (no money is awarded), but the event got low ratings when compared with the majors on the PGA Tour. NBC averaged a 2.4 Nielsen rating for the Ryder Cup in 1991 (not including a 3.6 for the 80-minute runover on Saturday that was broadcast without commercials). The 2.1 was up from ABC's average of less than 2.0 in 1987.

Something different from the usual PGA automaton-like tournament play occurred in 1991. The golfers acted like fully developed humans: emotional, and maybe even devious, jingoistic and petty. Gamesmanship was readily apparent.

"Paul Azinger and Seve Ballesteros checked out everything the other did, like two cats," said NBC's Johnny Miller, a two-time Ryder Cupper. "Seve coughed and moved his shoes a lot while Azinger was hitting and Azinger questioned Seve's every move in the rough."

And when a big boy like Calcavecchia sobs, you know this ain't the Buick Open.

"Match play has a tendency to increase pressure and it's more like a prize fight," said Miller.

Miller traces renewed interest in the Ryder Cup to the surprise loss by the United States at the Belfry in England in 1985. That loss was compounded by an even greater surprise loss in 1987, at Jack Nicklaus's Muirfield Village course.

"They beat us good, and it was 'Whoa, this is serious stuff,' " said Miller. "Then we tied in 1989 and they kept the cup. That was an even further embarrassment to us. By 1991, we had to win and it was no cakewalk."

The event is back at the Belfry, not the best course in Britain. But Miller said, "We'd like to find a course they can't win on, too."

Miller, not an unbiased observer, predicts a United States victory because of the maturity of Azinger, Fred Couples, Payne Stewart and Chip Beck.

"The heart of our team was young when they lost in earlier years," he said. "They were good players, but not good clutch players. Now they're really tough."

The success of the 1991 Ryder Cup altered the way NBC sold it to advertisers. Gone is the traditional commercial sales effort, replaced by the sale of sponsorships to five advertisers: Pepsi, Charles Schwab, Subaru, I.B.M. and Oldsmobile. Instead of 18 commercials an hour, there will be 10. The only golf comparison is CBS's selling of the Masters to just two sponsors.

"We didn't have a lot of success in selling the Ryder Cup in 1991," said Keith Turner, NBC's vice president of sports sales. "Not enough people knew about it. This time, we were able to sell the story of 1991. The fact that this happens every two years makes it more special than a regular PGA event."

Coverage begins today on USA, from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., with USA using NBC's production. NBC takes over tomorrow from noon to 6 P.M. and Sunday from 8 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. AIRWAVES

What may be WPIX-TV's farewell Yankees game -- if a new deal with the MSG Network isn't struck -- airs tonight with New York facing the Toronto Blue Jays. WPIX's Nielsen rating through 49 games is up to 5.7 from 4.3 last year. The Mets' average rating on WWOR-TV has slumped to 3.8 from 4.9 last year, after 71 dates. . . . NBC and Turner Sports officials have met twice in recent weeks to discuss cable rights to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Turner still hopes the value of its Atlanta-based production facilities will encourage NBC to drop its demands for a cable payment that would defray its $456 million rights fee. . . . The Dallas-Phoenix National Football League game last Sunday night posted an 11.0 Nielsen rating, or 6.6 million homes, the highest rating ever for a program on TNT. Such success is unlikely to be repeated Sunday for the Jets-Patriots game.

Pay-per-view is viewed suspiciously largely because the pricing is often so out of whack for the product being purchased. Now comes "The People's Choice World Heavyweight Superfights," a Dec. 3 dog-and-phony show featuring 16 heavyweights in three-round bouts for a title worth even less than the World Boxing Organization's. For $29.95, we get out-of-their-primers like MICHAEL DOKES and TONY TUBBS and unknowns like KING IPITAN and the British bare-knuckler JOE SAVAGE . If this show must go on, it's worth maybe $5.95. . . . What a treat watching a rerun of ESPN's JOE THEISMANN doing the pectoral-biceps thing on the cable network's "Bodies in Motion." At least he seemed to belong. What's next? CHRIS BERMAN doing step aerobics?

Now, they finally understand we're not insomniacs: evening games during baseball's league championship series will start at 8:12 P.M. For the World Series, Games 1, 2 and 3 will start at 8:29, the others at 8:12. Evening games during baseball's League Championship Series will start at 8:12 P.M. (except for Game 4 of the N.L.C.S., which will start at 8:29). A cynic would think the earlier first-pitch times -- all on weeknights -- were scheduled more to accommodate the starting time of "The Late Show With David Letterman" than early-to-bed fans.